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A meditation practice that will change your life…

Last summer I was invited to attend a four-day Transcendental Meditation training. This invitation came at the perfect time on my spiritual path. By this point on my journey I was heavily involved in the practices of Kundalini meditation and I was taking myself through another round of the daily meditations from A Course in Miracles. Though I felt spiritually fulfilled, I was curious and interested in expanding my spiritual repertoire.

Throughout my life I had heard a lot about Transcendental Meditation (“TM”). I had read about the great health benefits and energy shifts TM offered. I was curious and open. That summer I was living out at the beach and I knew that the TM teachers from the David Lynch Foundation were training people in a beach house nearby. I inquired about the training but was told it was full. Then one day out of blue I got a text from my friend Michael.

His text said, “I don’t know why but I thought you’d really like the TM four-day training. I put a call in for you and got you into a group next week!”

I was blown away by this universal hook-up and immediately replied YES!

After a short four-day training I was given the gift of Transcendental Meditation.

TM is a simple meditation practice where you sit for 20 minutes twice a day and recite a unique mantra. This mantra is given to you by your teacher. The coolest thing about having a mantra is that it’s only for you! That’s right, you can’t share it with anyone.

Transcendental meditation allows your body to settle into a state of deep rest and relaxation and clears space for your mind to reach a state of inner peace.

A study published in the journal Circulation found that practicing Transcendental Meditation lowers blood pressure and your risk for heart attack and stroke. It could also cut your risk for Alzheimer’s disease by strengthening the communication between different parts of your brain. Other studies have shown that TM reduces stress, blood pressure, anxiety, depression and anger.

The greatest study of all is the one I performed on myself. Through my daily TM practice I have found a new freedom and peace. I feel more at ease, less irrational and more connected to the flow of the universe. TM has greatly benefited my relationships, especially my connection to my husband. We practice TM together and feel a deep connection we hadn’t known before. TM helps us stay compassionate, loving and understanding toward one another.

If you want to learn more about TM, a great book on the practice and the countless studies proving its benefits is Transcendence by Dr. Norman Rosenthal, a researcher and psychiatrist. If you want go get trained in TM check out the David Lynch Foundation here.

In this week’s video blog I introduce you to my dear friend and the executive director of the David Lynch Foundation, Bob Roth. The David Lynch Foundation has been dedicated to bringing TM to the masses since 2005. (If you’re wondering: Yes, it was founded by the director David Lynch, who has been practicing TM since 1973!) The foundation trained me and I am eternally grateful for their support and guidance. Watch this video for more information on TM and experience the love and light of my friend Bob Roth. Watch now.

Additional resources

Thank you for this video Gabby and David. I had a miscarriage last week and I feel really lost since then. I was praying and asking for guidance when I saw this video. I know how a group meditation can be powerful because I used to go to a meditation center where we meditated for 1h30 about peace and it really made me feel love for myself and the world. I would like to know how to choose a mantra ? Thank you both for dedicating your life to peace, it’s really beautiful.

http://www.mum.edu
I think that Maharishi University is an amazing school. It’s about developing higher states of consciousness as part of receiving a high quality higher education. The graduate education I received there in Education was the most enjoyable, fulfilling, growth producing educational experience I have ever had.

These are papers on the physiology of “pure conscioiusness” during TM. This is thought to be samadhi as described in various yogic texts. By TM theory, the definition of [the first stage of] “enlightenment” is the integration of the physiological properties of samadhi with the physiological properties of waking, dreaming, and sleeping:

and of interest to you from a clinical perspective, here’s two pilot studies done on war refugees living in a camp in Africa who were taught TM, and how their PTSD scores changed (hint, Bobby Roth got visits from some Very Important People in the world of disaster relief agencies after those papers were published because the results were so overwhelmingly dramatic):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23568415
(90% of refugees who learned TM became non-symtompatic for PTSD after 30 days practice and remained that way at 135 days followup. The Control group continued to get worse and none of them became non-symptomatic.)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24515537
(in a different study, TMing refugees showed similar results at 30 days, but 2/3 of the drop in PTSD scores occurred after only 10 days of TM practice.)

Did the TM course last year. Its amazing and now a part of my life. Bob Roth is amazing as is Lynch. My hope is that one day it is a wide spread practice in Africa. This continent needs it ASAP. Light and Love ????

Thanks for sharing Gabby. I’m currently reading your book “May cause miracles” and I’m still relatively new to becoming more spiritual. I’m so into this that in a couple of days I’m going to a Vipassana Centre for a 10-day silent meditation retreat. Any tips for me to survive it? 🙂

Hey Marta,
Vipassana 10-day retreats are meant to be hard. Vipassana is hard-core meditation as all your shit just rises up! and you don’t ‘get’ to a spiritual place as quickly… I’m sure you will gain lots from it but I just wanted to give you a heads up in case you have a history of mental health problems and because you’re a beginner to meditation…
I say this because I once did a one-day course when I struggled with severe depression and I felt positively more unwell at the end of the day.
However, if this isn’t the case for you, then all the best!!!
Monika x

Hey Spirit Junkies! So THANKFUL I found this video. I’ve been so intrigued by how we can take the principles of meditation and spirituality and apply it to the global conflicts that are plaguing our world. This video is wonderful. Where can I learn more about these “Peace Universities”??

Meditation is the best free medicine. I used to meditate and then fell off. Lately, I crave it and have set the intention to start again. I started last night. It’s the only thing that I know that can calm my mind as I have way too much noise. This is a wonderful video and prescription for anyone looking to replace a bad thing with a good thing.

This was a sign and gift from the universe, and I thank you for being its vehicle for me today! I have never heard of David Lynch… Am extremely passionate about women and girls and meditations to end the violence against them. This talk is driving my new project and I could not think of a better way to start a Monday. SO EXCITED. Many thanks and God bless you!!

I love this! 8 years ago at the direction of my doctor I began meditation for 15 minutes each day. I was pregnant with baby #4 and really needed the “quiet time” as I called it. Imagine if you will a very big pregnant lady with a 5 yo, 3 yo and 1 yo–sitting silently for 15 minutes!

We continue to this day to have our 15 minutes of quiet time. I usually take more 🙂

Recently I have been working with kids at the school to help set up the beds for our homeless shelter–after we make the beds we stand at the foot of the bed and have one minute of silence to offer a blessing to those who will spend the night. Then I open it up to free flow prayer . . . it is miraculous! The parents often cry as the children share their hearts.

I am actually in the process of pursuing a Ph.D is Conflict Resolution for this exact reason, to one day be a Peace Professor! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the idea of supporting a Peace University as Bob mentioned! As usual the Universe has delivered confirmation that my path is perfect, and I am exactly where I need to be. Thank you both for such an inspiring video.

Caitlin, the David Lynch Foundation and the TM organization work with existing schools all over the world, trying to create large groups of people meditating for world peace.

Father Gabriel Mejia of Colombia is a Roman Catholic priest who happens to be a TM teacher and runs a network of 60 orphanages in South America and has all 5,000 of his children learn TM. The President of Colombia happens to practice TM and when the government captures child rebels, they are sent to Father Gabriel for rehabilitation. All 700 staff and all the older children practice the TM-Sidhis in groups, as part of the world-wide group meditation project the TM organization has been working on for nearly 40 years.

There are tens of thousands of students at various Indian reservations and private schools in Central and South America that are also part of that project. The tribes think that group meditation for world peace is an outstanding idea and are happy their kids are part of it. The goal is to have 50,000 students of all ages throughout South America practicing the TM-SIdhis daily within the next month or three so that no matter teh holiday schedule, there will always be at least the square-root of 1% of the world’s population gathered to meditate for peace (the idea being that if 1% of the world mediates regularly, it will help bring peace to the world, so if the square-root of that number can mediate together every day in a single group, it will have a synergistic effect equivalent to that larger number mediating at random during the day).

and in India, a project is ongoing to build a facility for at least 9,000 vedic pundits to meditate for world peace, and perform ancient vedic rituals for peace as their “day job” between meditation sessions: http://vedicpandits.org/peace-creating-group/scope/

FAB.U.LOUS video! I love TM, and this interview just sold me even more. My next goal… get my kids trained!

Bob (and you, Gabby) are correct… meditation IS a major missing piece in bringing Peace to our world. I feel as you do – it literally saved my life back in 2007. I would not be here without it. Anyone who takes even a few minutes each day will feel more peace in their life… my number one recommendation to friends, family, and clients – meditate!

I just put a TM logo on my vision board the other day. Feel like your video is Gods way of saying you r on the right path do it! Meditation has been really helpful in my sobriety and it feel like TM could be something to help with my anxiety. I just emailed bob- thanks gabby;)

Thank you Gabby, I have been think that I would like to get back to a consistent daily meditation practice. I often struggle with which mantra that I should use. I was trained in TM and given my mantra some years ago when my chiropractor suggested I try meditation. Of course after he mentioned it, my teacher suddenly appeared it certainly helped turn my heath around back then! Easy of enough, I will just go back to my TM practice! I have been doing Kundalini Yoga (love it!) and I have been study A Course in Miracles with a group at my local church for almost a year now (We are on the last chapter! These last chapters are very meaty!) This book is making a profound difference in my life and will probably just start over with the lessons and begin the group again. Thank you for point me back to TM!!! Much love and gratitude to you.

Emily, I was taught TM by women that just appeared in my life after my Chiropractor suggested meditation for me. She just ask for donations. To me it doesn’t seem like there is anything special to learn that is any different then any other type of meditation using a mantra. She just explained things to me and gave me my mantra through a ceremony and watched me in meditation for a while. She referred to the thought coming in as little bubbles of stress leaving my body.

TM is taught through a highly formal process by teachers who pledge to only teach meditation the way they were taught, and only through the organizations that the old monk set up.

I don’t know that you were ripped off, but TM is taught over a period of 4 days and there’s paperwork you sign to register to be eligible for the free lifetime followup at any other TM center in teh USA.

It’s a stupid legal hassle, but because everyone wants to learn TM, there are con-artists who pretend to be TM teachers and the TM organization has a copyright on the name so no-one can legally pretend to be a TM teacher. That doesn’t mean people don’t try, though.

TM teachers charge a formal fee, and do NOT ask for donations, so that could be a sign that you learned from a pretend TM teacher or at least from someone who no longer maintains ties to the national and international organizations (TM teachers actually teach Presidents of major countries, and Bob Roth ends up teaching billionaires (“meditation teacher to teh stars” LOL), so they can’t be seen as being amateurs, so everything is real formal).

The TM technique is taught by professional, certified teachers in a very systematic seven step program – http://www.tm.org/learn-tm. To make it widely available throughout the world, we need teachers everywhere and physical spaces to teach in. The course fees pay for all those expenses (they are more than most people realize!) A lifetime of followup support is included. It is worth every penny!
– Regine

Hi BH
Check out this interesting article written by Jim Karpen, PhD, M.U.M. where he points out the fundamental differences between TM and Mindfulness.

“These two approaches to meditation come from different traditions, are practiced in a different manner, have different effects on the brain, and are different in the way they’re learned.

Transcendental Meditation comes from the Vedic tradition and was introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Mindfulness comes from the Buddhist tradition, and was popularized in the West by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Transcendental Meditation is described as a simple, natural, effortless meditation technique that doesn’t involve contemplation or concentration. One uses a mantra as a vehicle to let the mind settle down naturally and, ultimately, to transcend thought.

Mindfulness meditation involves training one’s mind to be in the present moment. It typically involves passive attention to one’s breathing, sensations, and thoughts during meditation, sometimes referred to generically as open monitoring.

In this regard, the main difference between the two is that the goal of mindfulness meditation is to have one’s thoughts be on the present moment, whereas with Transcendental Meditation, the goal is to transcend thought itself and experience a state of “pure awareness,” in which one is aware but without an object of thought.

These differing approaches to meditation, and differing subjective experiences during meditation, are clearly reflected in the contrasting neurophysiological states associated with each practice. Transcendental Meditation has been found to activate the brain’s default mode network, which is a natural resting state of the brain. Mindfulness meditation deactivates the default mode network.

In addition, the EEG signatures or brain wave patterns associated with each practice are also different. Transcendental Meditation is typified by alpha brain waves, and mindfulness meditation by theta brain waves. Alpha is associated with relaxation while theta is associated with a readiness to process incoming signals.

Finally, the two approaches to meditation are learned in different ways. TM can only be learned from a certified teacher, who has been extensively trained and who teaches the technique in a very precise way. The teaching and the practice of the technique are standardized. With mindfulness, one can learn the technique in a variety of ways, and there are somewhat varied interpretations regarding how it should be practiced. A good way to learn is by taking the 8-week course on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction developed by Kabat-Zinn. But one can also learn mindfulness from various websites or books or magazine articles.

The ultimate goals of each technique also differ. With TM, long-term practice can result in a state of cosmic consciousness, in which the experience of transcendence is always present in one’s awareness, even during activity. One comes to experience one’s self as universal and omnipresent. One’s identity shifts from the individual to the cosmic. With mindfulness, the ultimate goal is to always be in the present moment, with greater clarity and focus.

Interestingly, one randomized controlled trial found that even though the goal of TM isn’t to cultivate the experience of the present moment that mindfulness meditation strives for, those who practiced TM increased in this experience after three months of practice.”

Thank you, Gabby! I’ve always been very curious about TM, but it seemed a little outside my purview. Yet to listen to you and Bob talk about it in a very straightforward way deeply encourages me! I’m going to email him now. I’m also deeply struck by the idea that even when a small group of folks come together, it affects the entire community. I truly believe it, but didn’t think it was scientifically proven. Thank you for your work and moving this forward! Cheers to a beautiful 2015!

Bob is so lovely! And so are you Gabby 🙂 Transcendental Meditation has been on my radar for a while… I think it’s time to take the leap. I loved what you were saying about being in the presence of someone that has dedicated their life to peace. This vid was such a joy to watch, so natural and lovely!

Sat Nam and thanks for sharing. I have been doing TM for just over 5 years . I’m also a kundalini Yoga Teacher and have been doing for the same amount of time. I have completely let my TM practice slip the last year ( using the excuse of having a toddler!!) this just reminds me I need to get back to my practice. I have so much to do with getting my business up and running TM is totally what I need back in my life !. Wahe Guru!
Blessings
Helen

Gabby! Thank you for the intro to TM and for all that you do. My 14 year old daughter has now embraced the spirit junkie mindset and it is helping me help her get through a difficult transition in high school. We adore you to bits and love your energy. That you get all welly talking to Bob is something we relate well to, having that deep empathetic and sensitive side too. Your vulnerability when sharing is a gift, so many try to hide or cover up their light and you shine yours for the world. Carry on sister, we’ll follow! xo

Thank you Gabby for all spiritual work you do!
I practiced TM twice daily some 10 years ago, but stopped.
Started following “gospel of Gabby” 🙂 about a year ago and you made me remember my meditation practice. So wonderful to see this vlog about TM! Thank you for reminding me of the easiest way to bliss, abundance, presence, peace, health, happiness, confidence…I ever tried. TM.
Jai Guru Dev

Great interview! Gabby, do you like TM better than Kundalini meditation/yoga? Seems like it’s been more effective for you. But I agree with some of the comments above – why so expensive? I thought meditation was supposed to be the best free medicine. It sort of seems cultish. 🙂

TM was founded by a Hindu monk to honor his guru, so there’s certainly a hindu flavor and a bit of a personality cult about the old monk (who died a few years ago but is remembered fondly by everyone), but no-one forces you to celebrate Guru Purnima (guru’s moon) or something. There’s a Roman Catholic priest in South America who runs a network of 60 orphanages and he happens to also be a TM teacher and makes sure all 5,000 children in his orphanages practice TM. The Roman Catholic church thinks this a very odd thing, but that doesn’t stop them from honoring the guy for his work with the children of Colombia: http://www.claret.org/en/news/03-01-2010/gabriel-mejia-cmf-archbishop-romero-prize-2008

His own Catholic order plays the David Lynch Foundation documentary about him to villagers in Africa in order to inspire them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4sS3tHvQRQ even though he mentions meditation and yoga.

TM is a secular practice that happened to come out of a monastery in the Himalayas. The entire TM organization was set up to honor the guru who ran that monastery, so at least some of the cultish feel comes from that. That guru was one of the most important religious/spiritual leaders of India in the 20th Century and the TM organization was instructed to always conduct itself in a way that would honor his memory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmananda_Saraswati

As for the expense? It’s a lifetime membership fee good for receiving meditation help from any TM teacher anywhere in the USA for free, no matter when you learned, where you learned or how much you paid.

TM has given me numerous gifts. Creativity, peace, clarity, calm heart, better personal relationships, and countless more benefits. I too would be interested in supporting the University for Peace project. Luminary Life Center is on a mission to bring peace to humanity.
Let me know how I can support.
xo
Elaine

Hi Gabby!
Any suggestions on how to get TM into public schools (particularly elementary)? I feel this would be such an amazing tool to give to children at such a young age. We live in a small town in Montana and don’t have many resources so I am wondering where would be best to begin to give these tools to our children.

Gabby and Bob I cannot thank you enough for sharing this powerful message. This was one of my favorite videos. I was smiling on the inside the whole time. Both of your words are so powerful and are making a difference in my life and so many others everyday. I love the idea of Universities of Peace and I want to be a part of it. I have been guided lately to the idea of spreading peace and love through your teachings and meditation to kids all the way up to young adults. It is such an important age when many of us are trying to find ourselves and I am so thankful I have been brought to you over the past year. I wish for others though that they can find you at an even younger age when they are trying to decide what college to go to or career path to choose. It’s such a stressful time and if they could see what wonderful things could manifest in their life with the teachings of peace, love and miracles it would be a beautiful thing. I cannot wait to see what comes of it all! Thank you both from the bottom my heart and I am going to keep searching in myself to find where I am being guided to be.

I started practicing TM at the recommendation of my cardiologist (a year & a half ago)…after we couldn’t find any clear, physical reason for my heart palpitations AND around the same time my little brother was tragically killed. I’ve been dealing with so much emotionally (in addition to losing my brother, one of my best friends also passed away quickly as well as two cousins..all suddenly & in the last year), that I’m probably not present to all of the benefits I’m receiving from TM yet, but I can say for 200% certainty that practicing TM has, for sure, kept me off of anti-depressants & anti-anxiety medication. Now that I’m learning to live with my grief & have accepted my journey, I’m enjoying the peace & rest that TM provides every day.

I have emailed Bob at bob@ davidlynchfoundation.org but it bounced back. Is this the right email address? Besides purchasing the book on Transcendence, are there other resources you could share on how to get started in transcendental meditation?
Thank a lot!

Gabby I am such a huge fan of your work and was browsing your blog when I came across this video. I was so excited and wanted to learn more. I visited the website and soon learned of the cost of the course and was discouraged. Did you go through the course yourself? Do you feel it is necessary for someone to practice TM?

That cost is the maximum cost. It is meant to entice the wealthy to learn as they set the trends and fashions of Society and “the rich don’t shop at poor stores” to quote Maharishi Mahesh Yogi explaining why he had his organization raise the price of TM so much.

It seems to have worked, Russell Simons, all by himself, donated enough money to the David Lynch Foundation so that 100,000 school children in the USA learned TM for free.

Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil, is a TMer, and her government recently announced plans to have 48,000 TM teachers trained–one for each public school–so that all 45 million school kids in Brazil could learn TM for free.

Getting the rich and influential interested can open doors that normally seem welded shut.

And for people who can’t afford the price meant to entice hedge fund managers to learn, there are scholarships and grants available to learn through your local TM center.

To access an amazing list of 1001 Benefits of Transcending Daily go to:

I originally made this list for prison inmates. I teach inmates how to transcend. They love it and are benefitting tremendously from it. After 16 weeks of transcending criminal thinking, trauma symptoms, mood disturbances, and stress levels decrease very significantly and dramatically. Transcending twice a day for 20 minutes is powerful criminal rehabilitation.

Gabby,
I saw you and Kris last Friday night and the universe has completely alined for me. After listening to you talk about meditation, alignment , and surrendering I have been practicing gratitude. I’ve been loving my Godpod every perfect part of it and today I signed up for TM course with a local instructor. I did buy or books and i’m so grateful you signed them. A new spirit junkie has been born and I’m so excited about all the possibilities!! Thank-you so much
Kindly,
Janice
Spirit junkie, mother of 3 awesome people and a wife to the man I love.

Hi there! Great article you have, I would also want to share my thoughts that Meditation indeed has positive effects not only in the body but also in the mind, a total holistic wellness that brings us to know our inner-self better. It gives us a peace of mind that helps us have a much better perception about our lives.
Our advocacy is to promote the positive effects of meditation, yoga and inner wellness.
Help us, visit our website at http://www.iamthechangeiseek.org and also http://www.goodreads.com/kathleensuneja
Thank you and have a great day!

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